Ambassadors' Roundtable II: Trouble with Globalization

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Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 has presented unprecedented challenges before China and the rest of the world. The resurgence of protectionism and nationalism has laid bare the vexations of the "well-trodden" path of the past, and forced a rethink of globalization. At the Ambassadors' Roundtable, a co-production of the Center for China and Globalization and CGTN, Tian Wei asked 13 ambassadors from 5 continents about the prospects of global trade, and the impact of great power relations, on top of geopolitical upheavals in 2020 and beyond. Do listen in.

[jonascrane]

The Dutchman says 'trust'.
A few centuries ago the Dutch, in order to avoid moral responsibility for their actions overseas, created a non-state organisation known as Dutch East India Company. Through its exploitation of the Asian people this company became the wealthiest organisation in the entire history of the human race - the total value of its assets and financial reserves surpassed that of the major states of Europe combined.

As a side note to provide some context on Dutch corporate power - keep in mind that contrary to popular belief (and 'historical propaganda') the Industrial Revolution did not originate in Great Britain but in the Netherlands and Belgium. The sociologist Max Weber explains the rise of modern capitalism in terms of the 'protestant work ethic'. Notice how the Dutch and the British have collaborated closely throughout history. After retaking Batavia (modern Jakarta) from the French in 1811, the British returned it to Dutch control at no cost. This is a rather peculiar fact considering the massive prosperity of the region. The Dutch had earlier in history asserted their dominance over the British Empire with the final Anglo-Dutch War - in which an isolated protestant Britain, fearing a Catholic invasion, practically became a protectorate of the protestant Dutch.

Most Chinese people probably feel a sense of resentment towards the British for their greed and inhumanity during the Opium Wars. Keep in mind the fact that Dutch elites probably played a major role in formulating British foreign policy at the time.

One final point on Dutch trust - the Japanese Tokugawa shoguns prohibited Europeans from Japan. A small Dutch trading post in Nagasaki harbour was allowed. Japan is the only country in history ever to have been devastated by nuclear weapons. At Nagasaki (and Hiroshima).

The above statement may seem absurd - an arbitrary linking of unrelated events centuries apart.
My experience living in South Africa has led me to the conclusion that it is perhaps not. During the last two decades of my life, I've met more Afrikaner (Dutch, Huguenot and Belgian) 'occultists' than I can list on both hands. My experience indicates that certain apparently insignificant 'protestant' sects may actually be a greater danger to the Chinese government than the Catholic Church.
Do NOT trust the Dutch.

[janewang]

very interested and really enjoyed this video, it was the best video in this year, looking forward.

[elizabethmellenthin]

This is good to see and hear... cheers... instead of building walls of bullets
Building relationships with .... pride.

[klkoh]

Solutions for humanity. Complaining is unhealthy.

[geoffreyanyika]

Instead of taking about the first global age, we should be analysing the ways in which living in the global draws us all into new forms of interdependence
There is a mismatch of scale between globalising forces and the institutions of the modern nation -state.

[Siddiqmursal]

Thank you very much from the great China to thought about the two our country North Korea and Afghanistan I really love and respect to great China especially Mr President Xi Jinping a Great Leader wonderful

[kongming]

Tian Wei is not a fair, Su Ge was given extremely long period.
One of the ambassador claim that China is a developed country and not developing country I wonder on what benchmark or standard he is referring or he is simply a hypocrites? When the west wanna have their name on the top list they would use GDP per capita measurement, when they want to put China into disadvantage scenario they will refer to total GDP

[naimulhaq]

I like cooperation, trust and sustainability, that will ensure Xi's ecological civilization.